The present invention relates to a mechanical press, and in particular, a drive disk adapter assembly to prevent drive disk closeout during press operation.
The typical mechanical press comprises a bed which is mounted to a platform or the floor of the shop, a vertically spaced crown portion in which the drive assembly for the slide is contained, and one or more uprights rigidly connecting the bed and crown and maintaining the bed and crown in vertically spaced relationship. The crown contains the drive assembly, which typically comprises a crankshaft having a plurality of eccentrics thereon and connecting rods connecting to the eccentrics of the crankshaft at their upper ends and to the slide at their lower ends. The slide is mounted within the uprights for vertical reciprocating motion and is adapted to have the upper half of the die set mounted to it with the other half mounted to the bolster, which is connected to the bed.
At one end of the crankshaft is usually mounted a flywheel and clutch assembly wherein the flywheel is connected by a belt to the output pulley of a motor so that when the motor is energized, the massive flywheel rotates continuously. When the clutch is energized, the rotary motion of the flywheel is transmitted to the crankshaft which causes the connecting rods to undergo rotary-oscillatory motion that is transmitted to the slide assembly by means of a wrist pin, for example, so that the rotary-oscillatory motion is converted to straight reciprocating motion. The connecting rods may be connected directly to the slide or connected by means of pistons which in turn are slidably received within cylinders connected to the crown.
Normally, a clutch plate is attached to the flywheel, the clutch plate having a drive disk attached thereto. A driven disk, comprising a combination brake/clutch assembly, is attached to the crankshaft. The brake/clutch assembly may be selectively energized to engage the drive disk of the flywheel thereby conducting rotational energy to the crankshaft or may be de-energized to brake movement of the crankshaft.
A problem, which has been experienced in the past, is a tendency for the drive disk, connected to the flywheel or clutch plate, to heat up due to frictional contact of the drive disk to the driven disk. The frictional connection of the drive disk with the driven plate causes the drive disk to thermally expand during use. This expansion causes the drive disk to move axially, one way or the other, into contact with one of the clutch facings of the driven disk or clutch sleeve. The contact formed by the axial movement of the drive disk is called axial closeout. This incidental contact causes excessive glazing and friction between the clutch facing and drive disk, thereby causing burnout of the clutch facing and/or excessive wear. Further, axial closeout prevents the drive disk from fully disengaging from the driven disk clutch facings.
The present invention is directed to overcome the aforementioned problems associated with mechanical presses, wherein it is desired to provide a drive disk with a circumferential adaptable attachment so that the drive disk may expand radially when heated, without affecting the axial location of the drive disk, thereby preventing closeout and premature burnout of frictional contact surfaces.